NEW YORK (AP) —
Samsung is making its tablet computers look more like its hit Galaxy
phones in the hope that the success of the smartphones can boost tablet
sales.

Samsung Electronics Co., the second-largest maker of
tablets after Apple, is putting three new tablets in the Galaxy Tab 3
series on sale in the U.S. on July 7. The cheapest, $199 device will
have a screen that measures 7 inches diagonally. An 8-inch model will go
for $299 and a 10-inch one for $399.

"Our goal is to attract
Galaxy smartphone users, and to make it the ultimate smartphone
accessory," said Shoneel Kolhatkar, director of product planning at
Samsung Mobile.

The "Tab" line is Samsung's value brand,
undercutting the price of similar Apple models. Samsung's premium
tablets are in the "Note" line, which include styluses.

The new
tablets have the same three buttons on the front as the Galaxy
smartphones. Last year's Tab 2 had no physical buttons on the front, as
encouraged by Google, which supplies the Android software.

The
10-inch model is the first Android-powered Samsung tablet to use an
Intel processor. That's a significant win for the Santa Clara, Calif.,
chipmaker, which has been trying to break into the market for cellphone
and tablet chips now that PC sales are slumping. Other smartphones and
tablets run chips made by a variety of companies, all based on designs
from ARM Holdings PLC, a British company.

Samsung had 18 percent
of the global tablet market in the first quarter this year, according to
research firm IDC. Apple had 40 percent. In smartphones, the figures
are nearly reversed, with Samsung dominating, largely because of its
Galaxy line. Apple came in second with a 17 percent market share for the
iPhone.

Even though the tablets have bigger screens than
Samsung's flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone, their screen resolution is
lower. The 10-inch tablet has a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels,
compared with 1920 by 1080 for the phone. The smartphone packs in three
times more detail in a square inch than the tablet does. Competitors
Google and Apple have similarly-sized tablets with higher-resolution
screens.